Steelheadache
05-16-2007, 02:03 PM
My buddy and I have a wood drift boat that he's done much restoration on and also has a motorwell added by the original owner. This boat came with a 15 horse 2-stroke on it and it coughed and smoked like crazy while trying to get it down to kokanee-trolling speed (+/- 1 mph). He figured the solution was to find a 4-stroke motor which would be quieter, less smoky and troll slower. So he found a 8-hp Honda, and I modified the motorwell to accept it. HOWEVER, we have found that if we idle it down enough to troll at low speed, it stalls out.
So I've got to ask the question: has anyone put a trolling plate on a little motor like this, and if so, what was your choice of manufacturer? Are there automatic (spring loaded) ones available?
What about a prop change? Think I could find much selection for a 1986 8 hp Honda, and would it help? The boat pretty much maxes out at 6.5 mph no matter what you push it with.
I don't want to screw around with drift socks or buckets if I can avoid it, but I would need the physically smallest trolling plate I could find, because of the space constraints inside the motor well when the kicker is tipped up for loading/ unloading... anybody got any help for me at all? (And don't say get a REAL boat, because it's waay too late for that!)
So I've got to ask the question: has anyone put a trolling plate on a little motor like this, and if so, what was your choice of manufacturer? Are there automatic (spring loaded) ones available?
What about a prop change? Think I could find much selection for a 1986 8 hp Honda, and would it help? The boat pretty much maxes out at 6.5 mph no matter what you push it with.
I don't want to screw around with drift socks or buckets if I can avoid it, but I would need the physically smallest trolling plate I could find, because of the space constraints inside the motor well when the kicker is tipped up for loading/ unloading... anybody got any help for me at all? (And don't say get a REAL boat, because it's waay too late for that!)